The life and times of the most recent parish priest of St Joseph`s and St Wilfrid`s, Gateshead.

Thursday, 25 June 2015

Medjugorje

It appears the CDF have reached a negative decision about the supernatural nature of the visions at Medjugorje although they say it is to be regarded as a special place of prayer. It`s up to the Pope to make the final decision. I`ve always had my doubts about Medjugorje. It will be interesting to see what happens as Medjugorje has passionate supporters who will not be happy. For more read here.

4 comments:

It has been clear from the very early days that the claims of the so-called 'seers' were false and the place has been quite rightly named Megaforgery. It has also been quite clear from the earliest days that it has been simply a money-making machine for those who have been promoting it and the bishops of the world should have accepted the decision of the Yugoslav bishops and forbidden their priests from arranging pilgrimages. Michael Davies exposed this fraud in 1997 in his booklet 'Medjugorje After Fifteen Years'. In 2006 the Bishop of Mostar, Mgr.Ratko Peric, in whose diocese Medjugorje is situated, said that "up to now there have been about 35,000 'apparitions' and there is no end in sight." He also said: "The numerous absurd messages, insincerities, falsehoods and disobedience associated with the events and 'apparitions' of Medjugorje from the very outset, all disprove any claims of authenticity."During his final illness in 2004 Michael Davies was updating his book but died before it was completed and I had the privilege of working with Michael's son, Adrian (who speaks Croatian) to complete the book and liaise with the Angelus Press for publication. This work was completed in late 2006. Unfortunately, while the book is still ready for publication it has been on hold since 2006 because of printing priorities and shortage of funds. This forthcoming decision of the CDF seems to herald the appropriate moment for publication. I was told on 10th June by Angelus Press that it would be about 5,000 US dollars for a print run of 1,000 copies.

Yes, that hope this fraud now gets completely exposed for what is. I speak as one who was duped once upon a time but who for many years has been very clear that it is nothing but a circus. I understand that it is very difficult for people who are convinced to let go and acknowledge it is a lie; in many respects it arguably represents the answer to what they are looking for, the reality of the supernatural and intensity of devotion which has been so snuffed out by the Modern church. Leo, I suspect that many like myself would be happy to make a small contribution towards seeing Michael's book finally get published; perhaps you should set up a fundraising page of some sort and spread the word? If you asked for $10 ahead minimum I doubt it would take long to get this print run in place.

The whole problem with Medjugorje is disobedience. I was a devote of San Damiano and Garabandal. I based my life on them for 20 years. A soon as I was informed that the local bishop declared them to be false I burned all my books and turned my back on them. It was a very difficult wrench but the local ordinary is the one with the authority. To go against him is stupid and wrong.

Yes disobedience is a problem I agree but there are others: lack of humility on the part of the seers, the jet setting around the world supposedly to spread the message - ridiculous when you think of it, Bernadette and Lucia lived in times when communication was poor and yet the message still got out and in our age, the messages can appear on the internet within seconds. There is also the problem of visions on demand - Ivan /Vicka, Marija /Mirjana click their fingers and lo and behold an apparition.

The angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, “The Lord is with you, you mighty warrior.” 13 Gideon answered him, “But sir, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us?Judges 6.12